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so carefully put together, every stone having been accuratelyput into its place, and so well driven home, that on removingthe centres, the arches did not sink more than an inch anda half at the crown ; which is truly wonderful, when theirimmense span is taken into consideration.

Waterloo Bridge was built by a Joint-Stock Company ,empowered by act of Parliament to raise a million of money;to pay off which, and reimburse its proprietors, a small tollis levied from passengers ; and now that the South WesternRailway is completed as far as the Waterloo-station, thetraffic over the bridge, and consequently the returns derivedfrom the tolls, have been considerably augmented.

London Bridge was built somewhat to the west of thesite formerly occupied by Old London Bridge, an antiquatedstone structure, that was erected about the beginning of the13th century, by Peter of Colechurch, who combined theprofessions of architect and priest: he died in the year 1205,and was buried in a crypt within the centre pier of the oldbridge, over which there was a chapel dedicated to St.Thomas it Becket.

The contractors for the building of the new bridge,Messrs. Jolliffe and Bankes, under the superintendence ofMr. (the late Sir John) Rennie, the engineer , drove the firstpile of a coffer-dam for the south pier, on the 15th ofMarch, 1824.

The general form of the dam was elliptical. Three rowsof piles shod with iron, and many of them measuring between80 and 90 feet, were driven into the ground, and after beingbolted together by means of walings, the spaces between themwere puddled with clay, &c. ; wooden stays or props werealso placed between the different rows of piles and the interiorspace of the dam, strongly truss-framed between longitudinalbeams. This coffer-dam having been completed, the firststone of the new bridge was laid by the then Lord Mayor ofLondon , in the presence of H. R. H. the Duke of York, onthe 15th of June, 1825.

Piles of beech - wood were driven into the natural bedof the river, consisting of stiff blue clay, to the depth ofabout 20 feet ; two rows of horizontal sleepers, about a footsquare, were laid on the tops of those piles, and these againwere covered by a planking of beech, 6 inches in thickness ;and on this flooring the foundations of masonry were laid.The same system was adopted for all the piers andabutments.

The construction of centering for the arches was the nextstep in this great undertaking. Each centre was composedof ten frames, joined together on the principle of the diagonaltruss—each frame rested at either end on a pile driven intothe river. The ten frames were then boarded over withplanks placed within 2 or 3 inches of each other. In con-sequence of a difference in size in the arches, it was necessaryto have four sets of centres.

On these centres the arches were turned in the ordinarymanner, and in the spandrels hance-walls were built, longi-tudinally, so as to oppose the thrust of the arches withoutoverloading the haunches. On the top of those walls heavyblocks of stone were bedded, and on these were laid stonelandings, upon which was placed a layer of tarras, and overthat again, the puddling, on which the roadway was formed.The first arch was keyed in on the 4th of August, 1827, andthe last on the 19th of November, 1828.

The approaches on either side of the bridge were carriedon arches over some of the streets running along the banks ofthe river. The arch over Thames-street, in particular, isworthy of attention, being very flat, having been constructedover the roadway and both the footpaths of Thames-street,and the centering for it had to be so made as to leave an

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uninterrupted passage for vehicles and pedestrians > nct j 0 n»entirely supported by struts ranged along the J eD ts

between the carriage-way and footpaths, and the at> t [,e

of the arch ; on these the wedges were placed upon wcentering was made to rest. 0 f tl>®

The only alteration made in the original P‘ a “ g a dJi'eminent engineer who designed the work, was jjgigh 1

tion of 6 feet to the roadway, and an increase t j,e

of 2 feet in the abutment arches. The alteration ^fic;width of the roadway was loudly insisted on by tn 8^ jtand the government ordered that the additions ^ tb©would necessitate, should be met by a public S ra !\ ar cb® 3amount of £42,000. The additional height in the si thewas proposed by the present Sir John Rennie , ° n 0 f liisexecution of the work had devolved on the dem ,s j 00father. This great undertaking was entirely C °w.t seve°the last day of July, 1831, after having been abyears and a-half in the course of construction. _ , . arc be s »London Bridge is composed of five semi-ellipt l0a ^ fee*four piers, and two abutments. The centre archspan, having a rise of 29 feet 6 inches above ^ et jnmark. The two arches next to this are each 1 ar ch® 9span, and rise 27 feet 6 inches. The two abutme^ e t ff°are 130 feet in span, and rise 24 feet 6 inches. |. ge£ wi^ e ’piers which support the centre arch are each 4and the others 22 feet in width. p a gre at

The line of roadway, which is the segment ° a \\y bfcircle, the rise being only 1 in 132, is marked eX ara pet' v ®!a modillion cornice, over which there is a closein place of the open balustrade which we have

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connected with the other three stone bridges.

The abutments are each 73 feet at the base. - p ge tside of these are two straight flights of steps,width. 0 pies ®

The entire length of the bridge, from the ex j 9 69°the abutments, is 928 feet; and the clear wa |f r aC h of 11feet. The carriage-way is 35 feet wide, andfootpaths 9 feet. . a be^ e8! j

This admirable bridge was built of the bes gtflne u«®Penryn, and Heytor granite ; and the quantity ° ^jjjjonin its construction amounted to 120,000 tons. re bn*

this, many of the arches forming the approac ® itselfof hrick. The cost of construction for the , ° eX pen se ibut little over half a million of money ; but t ga me,making new approaches, purchase of land for inc rea Ldcutting through valuable and important premi ^ eX pen ^the expense considerably; and the various sa D ^g it re (0on the new bridge, and the different improve^ gterlinS’ 8dered necessary, came to nearly two mill 10 tr jjj U ted 1which amount the government, however, 00 0 f

considerable extent. . n the ^ i e i

London Bridge was opened to the P , lC i l0 pr°° ee n y,August, 1831, by King William the Fourth, ^ cer eio o; j Jin state by water, to be present at the inaugur conne ctedattended by the most distinguished personages ^ j C h

his court; and the king took the opportum J ta leiit” . gj ”ing the citizens of London on the “ skill a .^„ ro yeDO e t j ja tthey had displayed in “many magnificen■ . e „tand especially in the successful accomp 1 c0l ic1 °°;

splendid undertaking. The day’s festivity OI) don , v \e ina princely banquet, which was served up 0I V g jgn—^ggain®and that beautiful erection, admirable in ara cter>appearance—but substantially useful in its thr°' vll .f tb®.1_ c a _—n.tir omi was * re jj jjenefi* 0

thenceforward public property, and waswithout toll or restriction, for the use aentire nation. t j ie head

Skew Bridges may fairly come under

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